Over the past few months, the Hello Cool World team has had the privilege of working with the First Nations Technology Council - an organization dedicated to building capacity and increasing accessibility to technology for First Nations communities throughout British Columbia. We're thrilled that the Technology Council has come on board as a community partner for our book 'Picturing Transformation, Nexw'ayantsut' which they have featured on their portal site.

Our work with FNTC began when we were invited to the #STRONG2013 conference back in May, where we did media engagement (i.e tweeting, blogging and posting to Facebook!) a photoshoot and video interviews. We produced three short films out of the conference footage we shot, that describe FNTC's goals.

I've been really amazed to see the innovative ways that technology is being used to preserve language and culture. The issues of language and culture have been in the media lately, with the ongoing Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commissions that are happening all around the country. The Commission is mandated to facilitate healing across the country, from the scars of the Indian Residential School system, in which the government forcibly removed First Nations children from their homes and forced them into schools, where they were assimilated, and where Aboriginal language and culture was illegal.

David Ng is a Hello Cool World veteran with experience going back a decade. David first worked with us when he was just 14 years old as a participant in the youth advisory group for the sexual health education program Condomania. Now an accomplished videographer passionate about the issues of gender and power, he is currently on sabbatical in South Africa while he pursues a Masters in Gender Studies with a focus on international development.

I recently had the privilege of meeting with the talented folks over at Kensington Communications that created RAW OPIUM: PAIN PLEASURE PROFITS, one of the documentary projects Hello Cool World has been involved with over the past year.

I was eager to sit down with producer Robert Lang and Kensington’s social media lead Amanda Connon-Unda to get a full update.

Kensington first approached Hello Cool World (HCW) last fall looking for strategy advice on self-distributing their film. In May, we worked with Kensington to host the world premiere of RAW OPIUM at DOXA and to strategize grassroots outreach across North America.

EMPOWERING YOUTH TO PROMOTE PEACE IS WHAT PEACE IT TOGETHER IS ALL ABOUT.

Youth from Palestine and Israel join Vancouver youth and an international group of faclitators and film mentors to work together to make films. WORLD PREMIERE SCREENING OF YOUTH FILMS- AUGUST 2 - VOGUE THEATRE VANCOUVER. Doors at 6pm, show at 7pm.

The project is about dialogue, filmmaking and multimedia and the public is invited to support the project and view this year's crop of fllms. On Tuesday, August 2nd come and watch the short films these youth have co-created about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Join us for this World Premiere at 7:00pm at the Vogue Theatre, 918 Granville Street.

Hello Cool World joined the program on the first day of fllming, which happened this year on campus at the University of British Columbia. We also did interviews with founder and exec director Reena Lazar and others including our own HCW cohort, Atef Abdelkefi, who has been volunteering for Peace it Together for many years. Pictured above, Atef is showing the group of youth the filming equipment on day 1 of the filmmaking part of the project. We will be at the premiere and doing a few follow up interviews, then watch for our own mini-doc 'Vlog" (Video blog!) Check out the other community support the project is also getting, I saw this mural on Water Street at Ishara while wandering around on the weekend!

Director, Peter Findlay will be in attendance, and following the screening a discussion will take place with Rebecca Ambrose, the owner of a medicinal cannabis seed store, and Dr. Ronald Joe, the Medical Manager for Inner City Addiction, Vancouver Coastal Health, which is administering InSite (the safe injection site, featured in Raw Opium) and other facilities.

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Bella is the newest addition to Hello Cool World, enlisting for the cause at the end of 2010. A graduate of BCIT's Broadcast Communications for TV program, she's worked in all aspects of production and has a knack for new media & technology.